Richard Berman

Richard Berman is a Washington-based industry lobbyist. Through his public affairs firm Berman and Company, Berman runs several industry-funded front groups such as the Center for Consumer Freedom [ [http://www.consumerfreedom.com/about.cfm Website of the Center for Consumer Freedom] ] and the Center for Union Facts [ [http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/06_09/c3973039.htm Business Week magazine online, Feb 27, 2006] ] .

Life and career

Berman grew up in New York City. His father ran gas stations and car washes, and Berman did general labor on weekends and summers while he was growing up. From 1967 to 1969, he worked as a labor law attorney for Bethlehem Steel, and from 1969 to 1972, he served as a corporate lawyer for Dana Corporation, an automotive parts company in Toledo, Ohio. From 1972 to 1974, he was employed as labor law director of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in Washington, DC.

He moved into the food and beverage industry in 1975 under the mentorship of Norman Brinker, founder and owner of the Steak & Ale chain of restaurants. Berman started a government affairs program, launched his first PAC for Brinker, and worked there until 1984. He served as executive vice president of Pillsbury Restaurant Group from 1984 to 1986. In 1986, he formed Berman and Company.

His résumé includes work for Beverage Retailers Against Drunk Driving (BRADD), where he argued for "tolerance of social drinking;" Fact|date=February 2007 the Minimum Wage Coalition to Save Jobs; and the Employment Policies Institute (EPI), created in 1991 to argue "the importance of minimum wage jobs for the poor and uneducated." [http://www.epionline.org/] Today, Berman describes himself as a social liberal and an economic conservative.

Organizations managed by Berman

* The Center for Consumer Freedom (CCF) The CCF criticizes groups who advocate regulating restaurants, meat, dairy, food processors, and alcohol. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention(CDC), Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS), Center for Science in the Public Interest, Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD), and People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) have been attacked by CCF.

* The American Beverage Institute (ABI) The ABI fights laws designed to regulate alcohol consumption, including the push to further raise existing blood-alcohol arrest thresholdsFact|date=March 2008.

* The Employment Policies Institute (EPI) The EPI is opposed to raising the minimum wage, particularly in the labor-intensive restaurant industry. It argues that increasing the minimum wage for waiters and waitresses would help drive the poor and uneducated out of the job market.

*The Center for Union Facts (CUF), an organization that on February 13, 2006, ran full-page ads in major print media outlets ("New York Times", "Wall Street Journal", and "The Washington Post") to blame trade unions for the bankruptcies of American industries. The CUF website includes the largest online database of labor-union reporting on salaries, budgets, and political spending. Recently, they have produced TV attack ads accusing trade unions of intimidation.

References

Further reading

* [http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/04/05/60minutes/main2653020.shtml 60 Minutes: Meet Rick Berman, A.K.A. "Dr. Evil"]
* [http://www.usatoday.com/money/companies/2006-07-31-lobbyist-usat_x.htm USA Today article on Richard Berman]
* [http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/06_09/c3973039.htm#ZZZUVB2YQJE Preview of BusinessWeek profile on Richard Berman]
* [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/04/26/AR2005042601259_pf.html Washington Post article]
* [http://www.consumerdeception.com/public.html Richard Berman's Public Face] , from ConsumerDeception.com, a PETA website
* [http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Richard_Berman SourceWatch article on Richard Berman]
* [http://www.bermanco.com/berman.htm Berman and Company website]
* [http://www.citizensforethics.org/files/Berman%20background.pdf Who is Richard Berman?] (1.2MB), Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington